Student sentenced in crash that killed retired teacher

WEST CHESTER – The daughter of a retired high school teacher said her life has been “turned upside down” in the wake of a fatal crash caused by a young driver who ran a stoplight and crashed into her father’s car.

“That was the worst day of my life,” said Ilana Ernst in a statement Tuesday at the sentencing hearing for Jose A. Jaimes. “The impact that (the crash) caused was horrifying, but watching my dad pass away next to me was the worst.”

Jaimes, 20, of New Garden was sentenced by Judge David Bortner to three to 23 months in prison, the standard for the crime of homicide by vehicle, to which Jaimes pleaded guilty. He was also sentenced to one year consecutive probation for recklessly endangering another person.

Jaimes, who apologized for his conduct at the hearing, was allowed to remain free until later this month so he can complete the semester at the automotive technical school he is attending. He will also be allowed to apply for work release from the prison after 45 days.

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“I am terribly sorry,” said Jaimes, who was accompanied by his attorneys, Thomas Schindler and Jordan Ludwick of Kennett Square, as well as his parents. “He is in a better place, with the heavenly father above,” he said of Harry Ernst, Ilana Ernst’s father.

The 81-year old former teacher was killed after he turned from the entrance to Stetson Middle School on Route 202 in Westtown after picking up his daughter, who worked as a cafeteria manager at the school. The terms of the plea agreement specify that Jaimes drove through a red light at the intersection as he was heading south on Route 202 and crashed into the driver’s side of Ernst’s car.

Ilana Ernst, who was also seriously injured in the crash, said she continues to struggle with pain. She was forced to leave her job with the West Chester Area School District because of her injuries, and by the constant reminder she faced when going to and from work, she said.

“Every day was horrible,” she said in the letter to Bortner that Assistant District Attorney Max O’Keefe, who prosecuted the case, read on her behalf. “I relived the accident every day.”

Dawson R. Muth, the West Chester attorney who is representing Ernst’s estate in a civil case against Jaimes, said that the family had struggled to accept the leniency of the sentence involved in the plea, but added they ultimately accepted it.

“They are very upset with the loss of their father,” he said of Ilana Ernst and her sister, Carolyn Messner, and brother, David Ernst. “But they graciously understand that the leniency of the sentence is based on the sentencing guidelines in Pennsylvania.”

“This as a horrible result, but it was not an intentional act, and the guidelines reflect that,” Muth said outside Bortner’s courtroom. He said that O’Keefe had discussed the matter with them before the plea was entered. “They don’t necessarily agree with (the guildelines), but they don’t object to the sentence.”

The fatal collision took place about 2 p.m. on Nov. 7. Jaimes hit the Ernsts’ car broadside, immediately killing the driver.

A traffic accident investigator with the Westtown-East Goshen police department said he had spoken with three witnesses - both at the scene and afterward -- all of whom said that they had been stopped at the red light on Route 202 south when Jaimes’ car went through the intersection.

That contradicted a statement that Jaimes gave to police at the time, when he said the traffic light had been green when he entered the intersection and the other driver had pulled out in front of him, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

Ernst, of West Chester, was a retired biology teacher who taught at Haverford High School for 30 years.